The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court

First of all, Bob Woodward is a tremendous writer and his style kept me engaged the whole time I was reading The Bretheren. I am not an expert on the Supreme Court but have read several books on it's history. I also find the individual justices extremely interesting. I never realized before how much "lobbying" occurs among justices trying to get other justices to see (and perhaps join) in their opinions on a particular case. It is also wonderful to see how (in particular cases) the power lies not in the extreme right or left of the court but somewhere in the middle (i.e. John Paul Stevens, Potter Stewart, Luis Powell and, at times, Byron White.) My biggest concern with Woodward is this-- was Warren Burger really that much of a fool? His ineptitude seems unbelievable and was such that even his fellow justices made fun of him and the other clerks many times seem to hold him in contempt. I think that Burger's main problem is that he forgot where the political realm stopped and the role of the judiciary began (esp. when it came to Nixon's White House.Anyway, I found the book a wonderful eye into the hidden workings of the Supreme Court. Just one comment. One reviewer wrote that "no justice was interviewed for this book." If she (Jean) had read in very beginning, the authors state that information was based on interviews with several justices, so she is wrong. I wish that people who contributed gave correct information in their reviews- it would be more helpful for people in their choice of reading.

Well written book, maybe a lot more detail for the average reader. However if you enjoy history about the Supreme Court during a specific era, this is good.

Great book. Helped me understand the workings of the Supreme Court.

Fascinating, fast paced and full of insights, it's easy to see why The Brethren remains in print decades after its originally release, and why it continues to earn praise to this day. Woodward and Armstrong exemplify the highest standards and efforts of investigative journalism, conveying a vivid account of the events and personalities of America's peak, and usually secretive, legal institution, during a period of significant political and social upheaval.Their account begins with the closing days of the Warren court, hailed as a liberal period for the court's jurisprudence. In the White House, Richard Nixon sees Chief Justice Earl Warren's retirement as an opportunity to begin hosing down what he perceives as rampant, bleeding-heart liberalism, appointing Warren Burger as Chief. Subsequent Nixon appointments would strengthen the conservative wing of the Court, but as The Brethren reveals, not all goes according to plan. The book traces then traces the first six and a half years of the Burger Court. Along the way their account is one of a Chief who more often follows than guides the court, of processes within the court that raise serious questions about the carriage of justice and of politics and personalities playing a greater a role than perhaps many realised.Woodward and Armstrong's writing covers significant ground, the structure and pace are both excellent and the injection of humour and the personalities of the various justices along the way speaks not only to their talent in writing this book, but also to the fine detail captured in their research for it.Accounts of the Supreme Court remain rare, and accounts of this quality rarer still. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Brethren

This book might seem dated: it describes the machinations of the court from 1969 to 1976, which included, among other things, Roe v. Wade and the Watergate tapes case. However, it is far from obsolete. The Brethren is a still-unprecedented look into the Supreme Court, the most secretive top-level branch of government. Although the faces (save one) and the cases are different, the way in which cases are decided by this body has likely not, plus it is a look at a tumultous time in ours as well as the Court's history.The focus of the story is Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger, who replaces Earl Warren after his retirement. The irony of the names is unexplored, but it is appropriate, because Burger becomes progressively preoccupied with trying to match Warren's legacy. Unlike Warren, though, he allows political concerns and vanity to influence his judgment and, bit by bit, erode the confidence of his colleagues, to the point where the late William Rehnquist, then a young conservative on the Court, makes fun of him behind his back. Although this book is unflattering to some of the justices, such as Thurgood Marshall, who is noted as lazy and uninvolved and Byron White, who is noted to be unlikeable, Burger is the biggest loser here. The book was published in the early 80s, only a few years before Burger left the court, and the image of him as a pompous, preening, intellectually deficient and generally clueless politician cost him, big time. In spite of the landmark rulings his Court made, he was unable to reverse the Warren Court's liberal activism (as he had hoped to do). His "Minnesota Twin", Harry Blackmun, would drift further away from him, both politically and personally, until finally becoming the most liberal justice after the departure of Thurgood Marshall in 1991. Burger's Macchiavellian strategizing to assign opinions caused such a backlash that, at one point, William Brennan decides to vote for whatever side of a case puts him in the minority so that Burger won't be able to assign him another crappy oppinion.Ultimately, Burger had good intentions, but his blunders dominate the book. He is a fascinating character, almost as bad a manager and as delusional as David Brent from the recent BBC TV Series The Office. Some of the principals come out looking good: Potter Stewart, for example, and Brennan also. But Rehnquist comes out best, in spite of some scheming and obfuscation. Burger, though, is front and center, and he's a reminder of how we're to seriously we all should take the business of the Court.

The Brethren covers the Supreme Court of the United States of America from 1969 to 1975. It is evident that the authors Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong did secure their information from former unnamed clerks of the court as well as others as there is no supporting documentation contained in this publication. There is no doubt in my mind that there was a great deal of exhaustive research conducted prior to publishing this book.The Brethren is really a historic look and examination of the inner-workings of the Supreme Court of the United States of America and covers such areas as inner conflict amongst the judiciary, inner-politics, personalities, abilities of the judiciary, competence of the judiciary, government influence, political influence on decisions of the court, conference voting, assignments of majority opinions of the court, judicial strategy, judicial idiosyncrasies, judicial behaviour and respect towards each other, judicial compromises and deals and the ideological make-up of the court not seen by the average citizen.The book also addresses areas that are not normally made public such as the role of moderates of the court, voting compromises amongst the judiciary, the writing of court opinions, how the judiciary advance their own ideology and beliefs in their decisions, how written opinions are often amended and why, concerns of the judiciary about new appointments to the court, personal lives of the judiciary, influence of law clerks on the judiciary, the inner workings of the law clerks, the role and influence of the Chief Justice, constitutional arguments and the true workings and operations of the 14 Justices of Supreme Court of America during the late 1960's and early 1970's.The Brethren affords the reader to view the workings of the Supreme Court of America from the inside out rather than from the outside in!

Love the insight.

Fantastic read, very useful in an academic evaluation of the role of the US Supreme Court and Civil Rights. Also, a very interesting book for general knowledge.

The book is amazing, but the copy I received was not in good shape. The cover was dirty. Very disappointing.